Reader Reply
School Administrator, March 2022


Mentoring Leaders

As a former U.S. Army soldier, law enforcement officer, an overseas principal and now superintendent, I felt a special connection to William E. Harner’s article “Mentoring Future Leaders” (December 2021). 

I agree with him that the most important thing we do as superintendents is to identify and mentor current and future leaders in our school districts. However, this for me did not start when I became a superintendent. 

Throughout my many levels of leadership roles in various occupations and capacities, I’ve always had others at work who could see my potential. Their willingness to reach out and share their learned experiences has lasted a lifetime. I now consider it equally as important for me to pay it forward and to look for individuals who share the same passion for leadership. This giving back is what I would describe as impact. 

ANDRE’ L. PONDER
SUPERINTENDENT,
MINERAL COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT,
HAWTHORNE, NEV.

William Harner did a great job writing “Mentoring Future Leaders.” Likewise, the supporting School Administrator Extras video featuring him was well done.

We have a long way to go around recruiting and retaining high-quality administrators, and COVID-19 has made that task considerably more challenging. 

GREG LYNCH
SUPERINTENDENT,
OLYMPIC EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT,
BREMERTON, WASH.

 
I just finished William Harner’s article and wanted to tell you it was a great work and right on target.

DOUGLAS WAGNER
SUPERINTENDENT,
WILSON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT,
EASTON, PA.
 
Capacity Building

I appreciated Justin Daggett’s article “Capacity Building in My Direct Reports” (December 2021).

He described an impactful process for cultivating the strengths of his district’s leadership team, therefore building their capacity. 

The Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, developed by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration in 2015, elevate the importance of distributed and shared leadership, and School Administrator's spotlight on Daggett’s work provided us insight as to how Standard 6: Professional Capacity of School Personnel might be operationalized. 

I’m glad your magazine gave him the opportunity to share it with a broader audience.

DANA SCHON
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DIRECTOR,
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS OF IOWA,
CLIVE, IOWA


I enjoyed reading Justin Daggett's article on capacity building.

His "secret sauce" of establishing annual goals with his principals and following up weekly to see how he can support them based upon their action steps is commendable. In the midst of the challenging times we are experiencing in public education, this simple, supportive approach is a meaningful way to support and celebrate professional growth.

MATT TOWNSLEY
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP,
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA,
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA


Community Relations

Your November 2021 issue carried a review of a new book titled Stakeholder Engagement: Improving Education through Multilevel Community Relations that I found of interest.

The review reports that the book’s authors believe multilevel community relations results, when building coalitions of support. For many years, especially during my time as editor of the Journal of School Public Relations, I’ve written that a purpose of such an excellent program did, in the long run, contribute overall improvement in student performance. That was because of the connection between parents and teachers in helping students together rather than teachers alone. 

ALBERT HOLLIDAY 
PUBLISHER,
PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE,
CAMP HILL, PA.
 

  
Correction

The January 2022 issue incorrectly attributed two doctorate degrees to Anibal Soler on the People Watch page. Soler is completing his doctoral degree at Manhattanville College.
 

Letters should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Email: magazine@aasa.org